After repeated confrontation regarding newsletters bearing Ron Paul's name which circulated in the late '80's and early '90's, more of Dr. Paul's writings have appeared on a popular Ron Paul website. A poster at the DailyPaul.com website has collected a number of quotes and videos of Dr. Paul expressing his views on racism starting from 1987, before any of the questionable newsletters appeared.

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The first quote comes from Freedom Under Siege, written in December of 1987. Unlike the newsletters in question, this language and style is clearly that of Dr. Paul.

After 200 years, the constitutional protection of the right of the individual to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is virtually gone. Today’s current terminology describing rights reflects this sad change. It is commonplace for politicians and those desiring special privileges to refer to: black rights, Hispanic rights, handicap rights, employee rights, student rights, minority rights, women’s rights, gay rights, children’s rights, student rights, Asian-American rights, Jewish rights, AIDS victims’ rights, poverty rights, homeless rights, etc. Unless all the terms are dropped & we recognize that only an individual has rights, the solution to the mess in which we find ourselves will not be found. The longer we lack of definition of rights, the worse the economic and social problems will be.”

Dr. Paul has repeatedly stated that rights belong to individuals, and that "collectivism" undermines individual rights as well as a sense of self worth and responsibility. Here is another quote from What Really Divides Us written in December 2002.

The true antidote to racism is liberty. Liberty means having a limited, constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims.

Liberty means free-market capitalism, which rewards individual achievement and competence, not skin color, gender, or ethnicity. In a free market, businesses that discriminate lose customers, goodwill, and valuable employees- while rational businesses flourish by choosing the most qualified employees and selling to all willing buyers. More importantly, in a free society every citizen gains a sense of himself as an individual, rather than developing a group or victim mentality.

This leads to a sense of individual responsibility and personal pride, making skin color irrelevant. Rather than looking to government to correct what is essentially a sin of the heart, we should understand that reducing racism requires a shift from group thinking to an emphasis on individualism.”

This is remarkably reminiscent of Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech. Other quotes and video excerpts have to do with the judicial system and the war on drugs which affects minorities in disproportionate numbers. In one of these quotes, as recent as this year, Dr. Paul states that he changed his opinion on the death penalty because of the disproportionate number of blacks who are executed in our flawed judicial system.

One characteristic that is obvious about Dr. Paul is his idealism. There is no room for philosophical dissonance in a Ron Paul paradigm. Any idea which is inconsistent with Dr. Paul's overall philosophy of Liberty and individual freedom will undergo intense scrutiny and either be brought into consistency or abandoned altogether. Ron Paul regards people as individuals and views civil rights, humanitarianism, government intervention and any other sociological concern through this lens. In fact, Dr. Paul has undoubtedly held this view for so long that it is second nature to him, and anyone accusing him of "racism" would most likely have more racist ideas than Dr. Paul has gray hair.

If I were a writer for Jon Stewart, I would have such fun writing material for an episode on Dr. Paul's newsletters. Have you ever noticed how it is always white news anchors who accuse a white guy of racism? In fact, the Austin NAACP's president, Nelson Linder has come out in defense of Ron Paul saying, "I think he is sincere and I think he's correct in what he's saying".

I mean seriously, the one lone voice who supported the Muslims' right to build a mosque in New York on ground zero when everyone else said it would be disrespectful is a racist? The only Republican candidate who is not in favor of bombing dark skinned people is a racist? The one congressman who offered to pay for a medal to Rosa Parks out of his own pocket instead of using taxpayer money is a racist? The only candidate in the Republican debates who has not singled out Obama as the reason for America's economic woes is a racist? The only candidate who points out that addiction is a disease and not simply a crime is a racist? The one guy who refuses to change his message to get more Jewish votes because he wants to be consistent in principle is a racist? He also refused to change his position on immigration in order to gain more Latino votes.

Whatever happened in those newsletters of the '80's and '90's has been made moot by Ron Paul's present day philosophy and action. He may not fight for special privilege for any group, but one can rest assured he will fight for the right of every individual equally. Most people recognize these attacks for what they are, an attempt to throw the now perceived frontrunner off his game. However, for some it may raise a question of principle. But when it comes to principle, give Ron Paul his due. No one who is running for the office of president has been as consistent or as ideologically sound since before Reagan was president as Ron Paul.

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Rick has been a Ron Paul follower since the 2008 election when he became disillusioned with the Republican Party's ties to Wall Street and the military industrial complex. Since then, he has been writing on issues of personal liberty and individual freedom. His background in substance abuse counseling and The Twelve Steps provides him with a unique perspective on issues of Liberty & personal freedom.